One Piece - Lionheart of the Sea 22 (Patreon)

Hey everyone, and welcome to my One Piece fanfiction. We've now entered the short and sweet Whiskey Peak arc. This chapter will mainly focus on moving things forward, and while it won't be too exciting, it will be entertaining. Hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, and Fuji TV. Please support the official release.

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"Pirate" Regular speech.

"Pirate" Thoughts.

Finger Pistol Attack names.

(Pirate) Words said previously.

"PIRATE!" Shouting speech.

[Pirate!] people talking at the same time.

"Pirate" people talking over communication.

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Whiskey Peak

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—…

The Going Merry was finally making its first voyage into the Grand Line. The sun shone in the sky until a few moments later. Snow began to slowly cascade and drift onto the caravel and completely cover the deck. On the main deck, Usopp played in the snow, and with them was Sanji, who shoveled snow at Nami's request—But each shovelful that he threw overboard was replaced quickly as the snow continued to fall. Gin aided him in shoveling snow while Zoro merely took a nap.

"Can somebody please tell me why it's snowing?" Nami questioned irritably. The navigator herself was bundled in a snow jacket, scarf, and earmuffs. She and Silk were inside the kitchen, using the room for shelter from the snow, but it didn't stop the frigid, cool air. "It was hot and sunny just a few minutes ago."

"This is the Grand Line…" Silk spoke. "It's not like we would've known the weather would do a complete turn-around like this."

"You're telling me." Nami remarked.

"Nami~!" Sanji called. "Shall I shovel some more for you?"

"Just keep going 'till it's gone!" Nami told the cook. "Doing great!"

"Thank you~!" Sanji said. "My pleasure~!"

"How can he be so happy about grunt work?" Gin grumbled beside him.

Other than Silk and Nami in the kitchen were Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. They sat at the table, each of them wrapped in their own blanket and not at all content with the current weather conditions.

"Excuse me?" Mr. 9 questioned. "Doesn't this ship have a heater? This environment is inhuman."

"I'm cold." Miss Wednesday whined. The complaints from the odd duo caused irritation to come over Nami's face, sending an angry scowl their way.

"Shut your mouths!" Nami shouted with shark teeth. "You're not guests here! You wanna warm up?! Go shovel snow or something!"

In the sky a lightning bolt resounded in the sky, causing confusion to come to Nami's expressions.

"Lightning…?" Nami wondered. "First snow, now lightning? What's going on with this weather?" Another crack of thunder rang out as the winds started to become turbulent and mixed with the snow, forming into a snowstorm. "One minute it's a cloudless sky, then it's a blizzard. It's like the normal rules of nature don't apply."

"So, what do you think?" Miss Wednesday questioned. "Ready to turn back yet?"

"You and your friends have no idea how to survive this place." Mr. 9 sneered.

"I noticed you haven't steered for a while…" Miss Wednesday smirked. "Is that wise?"

"What're you getting at?"Silk wondered. "We're headed in the right direction."

"That's right!" Nami claimed. "I just checked a while ago." She looked at the Log Pose, but what she noticed was something terrible that caused her to scream in distress, which didn't go unnoticed by the others outside, except for Zoro, who continued sleeping. Nami stormed out of the kitchen with Silk not far behind, everyone staring at the navigator in confusion.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard Nami screaming in horror from inside the cabin.

"What's wrong?" Usopp yelled as he stopped in the middle of building a snowman.

"Can't be good." Gin said knowingly.

"Don't be afraid, I'll save you!" Sanji declared without even knowing what the problem was.

Nami came out of the cabin, staring at the Log Pose in horror.

"No way!" Nami screamed before she cried out. "Make a hard turn 180 degrees, hurry!"

"A one-eighty?" Usopp repeated, baffled as he dropped his handful of snow. "Why would you want us to turn back?!"

"What's going on out here!?" Light asked as he came out of the Captain's quarters and appeared on the deck with the others. "Would someone tell me what all that yelling is about?"

"Captain! The ship has turned around! We're sailing in the wrong direction!" She yelled at them, answering his question while still looking at the Log Pose. "I only took my eyes off the Log Pose for a second!" She looked up at the sky and said. "I thought the waves were calm!"

"And you're just now telling me this?!" Light immediately grasped the seriousness of the situation.

Just then, Miss Wednesday asked from inside the cabin in that same conceited way. "You're not a very good navigator, are you?" You can't trust anything here. Not the wind, sky, waves, clouds… Nothing is what it seems in the sea. The only way to get reliable direction on the Grand Line is with the Log Pose. Everyone knows that." She finished with a satisfied smirk.

But Miss Wednesday had finally gone too far, and Nami kicked her and her partner outside. "SHUT YOUR CONDENSATING MOUTHS AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL AROUND HERE!" She screamed as she took charge. "Brace the yard! Force the wind starboard! Turn the ship one hundred and eighty degrees to the left! Usopp man the lateen sails! Sanji, take the helm!" When they went running off, she barked orders at the two, "WORK YOU TWO!"

"This girl's crazy!" Mr. 9 stated as they began pulling ropes.

For the Pirates, it was one thing after another. This was the first time they had ever encountered the offbeat, abnormal weather of the Grand Line. The young Pirates and the odd pair fought against whatever strange encounter they came across. Be it the weather changing, nearly crashing into a random iceberg, a sudden fog rolling in, and the Merry suffering damage and leaking below deck. Everyone, but a certain dozing Swordsman did what they could to keep the ship sailing through the storm.

"Hey, wait! Looks like the wind changed!" Usopp yelled, getting their attention, and he was right. It changed rapidly from freezing cold to a springtime gale.

And that was how it went. The winds would constantly change, and waves would become violent or calm when you least expect it once they almost hit an iceberg as fog came pouring in. Although they had managed to turn just in time, the helm was damaged, and Usopp went off to fix the leak. Dark clouds came pouring in, and they were battling the fierce wind right after that as Sanji was forced to keep bringing food for them to keep their strength up… The winds were tearing the sails apart, and water was filling the bottom of the ship… It was chaos.

Thankfully, the horrible weather had finally calmed down enough that they could all rest on deck—Trying to catch their breath. But true to form, Zoro had finally woken up. "Ah, I'm rested." Zoro remarked. "C'mon." He addressed everyone else currently enervated on the deck. "The weather's nice and all, but that's no reason to be lazy. We better be on the track. That's all I can say."

He didn't notice the evil eyes that Nami, Sanji, Gin, and Usopp were giving him as Light approached him. "Sometimes I'm amazed at what you can sleep through." He commented before elaborating. "You just sleep through a huge storm. It almost tore the ship apart before we made it through."

"Huh? Seriously?" Zoro then looked around and noticed some signs of a recent storm on the ship. "Wow, I can't believe I missed all that?"

Light shrugged. "Well, it's over now, so I won't get too upset, but you'll have to make up for not doing any work." Light leaned in and told him. "The next time that there's trouble, you'll have to use those Swords to handle things on you're own."

Zoro nodded in acceptance. "Fine by me." He then finally noticed the two newcomers on deck. "What're you two doing here?" He'd been asleep ever since leaving Crocus' lighthouse, so he wasn't aware of the promise they made them.

"You fool!" Mr. 9 shouted at Zoro.

"We're taking those two home, a place called Whiskey Peak." Light informed him.

"Since when did we become a transport service for thugs?" Zoro wondered. "We don't owe them anything."

"Factoring the pros and cons, this is the better decision." Light reasoned. "Especially considering the alternative is leaving them with Crocus."

"Fair enough." Zoro groaned and knelt in front of Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. Grinning evilly, Zoro bent down to look at them. "So tell me… What are your strange names again? 'Cause I don't think you two can be trusted."

That evil grin looked like a shark before it devoured its prey. The other two seemed scared of it as well, as they stuttered out their names.

"I… My name is Mr. 9." Mr. 9 croaked out.

"I'm called Miss Wednesday." She added nervously, her eyes twitching a little fearfully.

"Right." Zoro said skeptically, his thumb under his chin. "You know those names sound familiar, and that's what's bothering me. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure I've heard them somewhere before!"

The two were looking terrified just as Nami hit Zoro over the head from behind.

"You jerk!" Nami reprimanded. "You think you can just sleep while we do all the work! You're lucky we didn't toss your lazy ass overboard!"

Before she could go any further, Light grabbed her wrist. "Would you cut that out? Like I said before, it's over already."

"You can't just tell me to let this go!" Nami wouldn't have it. "We busted our backs out there while he did nothing!"

"You mean like how we busted our backs to defeat the Buggy Pirates in Orange Town while you did nothing?" Silk reminded her, causing Nami to freeze like someone who had been caught. "Or how we busted our backs to stop the Black Cat Pirates while sat there and watched?" She added further. "Reminded me again, how many times should we have tossed you overboard?"

Knowing that she couldn't possibly talk her way out of this one, Nami opted to simply change the subject as she turned to address the crew. Nami stood up in front of them all and declared, "Listen up, everyone! There's no way to know what's gonna happen next! During the terror that most of us just experienced…" She shot Zoro another evil look before continuing. "I came to an understanding of why this sea was named the Grand Line." She held up her fist and finished. "My navigation skills are useless here! Anything can happen! But mark my words, I will guide us through!"

"Uh, okay?" Usopp said unsurely. "Are you sure about that, Nami?"

"Without a doubt!" Nami smiled. "Just wait and see!"

Gin sat up and sighed. "Well, she's got more grit than the last navigator I knew who went through all that."

"Oh yeah, this isn't your first time experiencing Grand Line weather." Sanji remembered and decided to ask. "Was it like the back then, too?"

"It was way worse back then." Gin answered, not so bothered by it anymore. "We spent almost a week in weather like that. It never seemed to end. Although we didn't know about Log Poses back then, I'm pretty sure we were stuck going in circles without realizing it. Anytime we sailed away from the storms, we must have sailed back into it."

"Geez, that must have been awful." Usopp cringed just thinking about it. "I don't think I could have handled a week of all that."

"Yeah, it was a nightmare." Gin then let out a huff. "Ironically, though, that storm was the only reason we managed to escape from Mihawk."

"Yeah, there's the rub." Sanji noted as they got up. "So, you've never gone beyond this point?"

Gin shook his head. "Nope, as of right now, I'm just as lost as the rest of you. I may have entered the Grand Line once before, but I've never set foot on an Island."

"Well, that's about to change." Nami gestured to an island shrouded in thick fog. "Speaking of which, we're here! Our first journey on the Grand Line comes to an end!"

"Land ho!" Light announced.

"So this is Whiskey Peak." Sanji commented. "The landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen."

Through the thick mist, they could see the outlines of strange, cactus-shaped mountains with several buildings set up on either side of the river that they were traveling on.

"Sure is a lot cactus…? Or rather cacti?" Silk noticed what probably passed as plant life on Whiskey Peak and also found that the number of cacti on the island was of varying shapes and sizes. "A lot of them sure are giant."

"Wonder if everything on the Grand Line is bigger or smaller than it's supposed to be?" Light mouthed in curiosity.

Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday suddenly leaped onto the rail as everyone looked at them, wondering what they were doing now. They both said their thanks and goodbyes and chuckled darkly.

"Thank you, but we must be leaving," Mr. 9 stated.

It's been an interesting ride, to say the least." Miss Wednesday added.

"Perhaps we'll meet again someday." Mr. 9 said.

[Bye-bye, baby!] The two leaped off the ship and into the ocean and swam away, disappearing into the fog.

"Weirdo's both of them." Gin muttered, and they all sweat-dropped as the others nodded with him.

"That was a quick exit." Nami said.

"I guess we'll never learn what those nutjobs are up to." Usopp added darkly, looking over the edge to try and see where they went.

"Doesn't matter. We sailed them back to their home as promised, so they're no longer our concern." Light asked, returning to the matter at hand. "Prepare to dock."

"Well, there's a waterway right up the shoreline…" Nami pointed out. "It looks like we can go inland by ship."

"Umm…" Usopp's body started to quiver. "I'm weighing the possibility of monsters out there."

"That's definitely a possibility." Sanji affirmed. "This is the Grand Line."

"Yeah, and knowing our luck, it wouldn't surprise me." Gin added.

Light turned to Nami. "Nami, did Crocus tell you anything about the Islands out here?"

"Actually, he did." Nami affirmed. "According to what Crocus said, it's imperative that we stay on this Island at least for a little while."

"Why's that?" Light wondered.

"The Log Pose needs enough time to record the island's magnetic field," Nami mentioned, gesturing to the device on her wrist. "So until that's done, we have to stay put. The Log Pose can require a different amount of time for each island. Some take a few hours, others may take several days."

"Suppose this Island is crawling with monsters. We'd get stuck here waiting." Usopp mentioned. "That's stupid! We'd be done for! What's the point of gathering navigation coordinates if you're dead?!"

"We're staying." Nami declared.

"Why are we worrying about a worst-case scenario?" Light pointed out. "Odds are there are no monsters, and we're worrying about nothing."

"He makes a good point." Zoro said. "I agree. There's no need to worry yet."

"Me too." Silk nodded. "We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it."

"Now that that's settled…" Sanji remarked. "Let's get going, and I'll keep you safe, Nami, and you, Silk."

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it," Usopp moaned, clutching his throat. "It's this cold. It's a condition, really. You guys just go on without me."

"Alright, get ready!" Nami addressed everyone. "And… Make sure you're prepared to run as well as fight."

Usopp rambled on about how he had 'Don't-go-to-the-island disease, but his babbling went unheard by everyone. The Going Merry drifted through the shoreline, not discouraged by the fog clouding its route into the waterway.

"What's waiting for us out there…?" Sanji wondered.

"Please, don't let us die." Usopp pleaded, sweat pouring down his head.

Light squinted his eyes and noticed they were close to reaching the shore. He caught sight of various shadowed figures that seemed to be prancing about. This was an island in the Grand Line, so there was no telling what sort of threat would be on it. Everyone readied weapons, if they held any, and waited for just what they were to encounter.

"Something's moving over there?" Light noted.

"I see them, too." Silk noted. "Whatever it is, there's a lot of them."

"Who are they?" Sanji wondered.

"Or what are they?" Gin wondered.

"Now be on your guard, everyone," Nami affirmed.

"I may have to fight monsters, but at least I came prepared." Usopp declared, holding his slingshot. "Whoever's out there, I'm ready! Show yourself and face my wrath!"

The ship drew closer into the fog as a faint sound could be heard. Jou's hearing picked up on it. It sounded like cries of… People. It was good to know the island was inhabited by citizens, which meant the island had to be a town. The fog cleared away just to find people on the island waving and shouting cheers. An enormous amount of them were screaming and waving and beaming smiles toward the crew.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!"

"Greetings and good times, travelers!"

"We're happy to have you here at Whiskey Peak!"

"These aren't monsters…" Usopp blinked. "They're people, and they actually seem happy we're here."

"What's the hell's wrong with them?" Sanji questioned.

"Nothing, I think?" Silk answered but didn't seem sure.

They eyed the vast crowd and couldn't help but see the happy expressions on their faces since they all looked so delighted at their arrival.

"Pirates are always welcome in our town!"

"Hurray for the heroes of the sea!"

"Oh, yeah~!" Sanji cheered. "I've never seen so many cute girls in one place~!" The cook was more excited about the number of girls among the throng of people. This was probably what he considered heaven.

"I guess some folks consider Pirates to be heroes!" Usopp said while blowing a few kisses. "Who knew? Man, I should've come here ages ago!"

Soon enough, the Going Merry was docked, allowing the entire crew to step onto the land. Jou crossed his arms, gazing at the people who were in jovial spirit from their advent. Not long after, a man stepped through the crowd to greet them. The man had big, gray tube-like hair and carried a saxophone that was tucked under his arm.

"Wel—" He paused before letting out a cough. "Ma~! Ma~! Ma~! Welcome! It is my honor as Mayor to welcome you to Whiskey Peak. I am Igarappoi."

"You certainly are." Light replied dryly. *Note: Igarappoi means irritated throat. "Can you explain what everyone is so excited about?"

"That's simply the nature of Whiskey Peak. You'll find that this a place that thrives on making liquor and music," Igarappoi mentioned proudly. "Hospitality is a matter of pride in our town. The smiles roam long, and the liquor flows as bountiful as seawater. Would you permit us to throw a party in honor of your arrival so that we may hear—" He cleared his throat. "Ma~! Ma~! Ma~! Your tales of adventure."

[We're glad to!] Sanji and Usopp exclaimed, evident excitement in their voices. Silk only stood on the side with Nami, Gin, and Zoro. None of them shared the same enthusiasm as those three.

"Idiots." Nami scolded. "By the way…" Nami spoke to Igrarappoi. "How long until the Log Pose records this island's magnetic field?"

"Log what…?" Igarappoi ignored her question. "Such boring details will have to be kept for now. Surely you'd like to rest after your journey." He put an arm around Nami's shoulder, her opposition going unheard. "Now let's prepare a party! Sing and make merry! Entertain our guest!"

The townspeople rejoiced in a cry of merriment, but Light didn't join in the excitement and let out a yawn. "Nah, I'll pass on that. I think I'll just head back to the ship."

"Ah, come on, Captain, it's a party in our honor." Usopp insisted.

"You're seriously thinking about partying after all that?" Light responded incrediously. "I'm exhausted. I just want to get some sleep for a while."

"You can't be that tired. We all had to deal with that weather, and we're fine." Sanji pointed out.

"Yeah, but how many of us had to deal with an island-sized whale?" Light counter-argued, silencing any more objections as he headed back to the Going Merry. "Zoro, you're in charge for now."

"Got it." Zoro acknowledged.

Light gave him one last look. "Remember what I told you."

Zoro didn't have to ask what he meant as Light made his way to the deck and went back inside. Zoro looked at the others standing next to him, and the Swordsman saw that they each had a similar expression of confusion about the carefree nature of this town. The whole crew (Except for Usopp and Sanji) could tell that something was wrong.

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Later that night, the townspeople's party was in full swing, with the pirates joining in the festivities. People were prancing about and playing music, not to mention eating and drinking, until their stomachs burst.

"Then I looked 'em straight in the eye, and I said…" Usopp started. "Sea Kings, you don't touch my friends, or you'll have to answer to me." A trio of girls sat across from the sniper, each letting out adoring sighs from his tale while other townspeople gathered to hear about it.

"Aww~! Oh wow~! You're amazing, Captain Usopp~!"

"Well, even I trembled when facing the deadly landscape of the calm belt…" Usopp grinned. "Trembled with excitement, that is."

"Really?" A man asked.

"You're a true hero!" Another man exclaimed. Silk, Nami, Gin, and Zoro sat down together as Igarappoi approached them, treating them to the town drink.

"Please, don't hold back on my account." Igarappoi grinned. "Drink up!"

"Uh, thanks." Nami shook her head. "But I'm not drinking."

"Don't worry…" Igarappoi cleared his throat. "Ma~! Ma~! Ma~! Don't you worry. What you have there is a very special drink—Made by using the very sweetest of premium grapes. It contains all the flavorful benefits of a fine wine. With 0 alcohol."

"I see." Nami said and lifted the tankard to her lips and took a sip. "Yeah, you're right! It's delicious!"

"We had an excellent grape harvest this year." Igarappoi mentioned proudly.

"Got anything that does have alcohol in it?" Gin requested.

"Of course, in fact, you'll find plenty in our traditional toast competition!" This announcement seemed to really excite the townspeople with a massive, vibrant cheer.

"What kind of competition is this?" Silk wondered. "Is it just a drinking contest?"

"Put simply, yes!" Igarappoi said. "Take a drink! This continues for as long as you can hold your liquor! Last one standing is the winner! Join us!"

"Haha…" Nami let out a nervous chuckle. "No thanks, you go ahead. I'd rather watch the competition."

"Did I mention that the prize is 100 thousand Beri!" Igrarappoi mentioned pulling a stack of beri bills from his coat.

"Then fill her up!" Nami exclaimed, holding out a mug. "Zoro, stand up and join us."

"Forget it." Zoro mouthed off. "I'd rather drink in peace."

"Grr… Silk? You're joining in too, aren't you?" Nami asked her next.

"I can't imagine anything I'd rather not be doing right now." Silk completely disregarded her.

Before Nami could give in to her frustrations, Gin stood up. "I'll join. I could use a drink."

"Great, now let's make sure we win that prize!" Nami demanded.

Gin and Nami joined in the drinking contest. The competition and the party became more lively as it went on. Both of the Pirates challenge every townsperson taking part in the contest. While everyone else was living it up, Zoro and Silk stayed at their table.

Now that they had the opportunity, Silk decided to ask Zoro something that had been on her mind.

"Hey…" Silk spoke loud enough so only Zoro could hear her. "Do you know?"

"Know what?" Zoro asked, being vague.

Instead of answering him, Silk reached into her pocket and took out a small piece of paper that had a single name on it. She passed it over to Zoro, and he read it. After a second, he kept his composure and crumpled up the paper before putting it in his pocket.

"Yeah, I know." Zoro answered her previous question. "Does the Captain also know?"

"Yeah, he does." Silk nodded. "When did you learn about it and how?"

"A while ago, and I assume the same way as you." Zoro answered her questions in order.

While the two of them had their private conversation, everyone else was still enjoying the party without noticing a thing.

"Woah! That's his 10th mug!" An islander exclaimed as Gin downed the contents of his tankard.

"That girl's drinking them under the table with mug number 12!" Nami finished her drink with 2 participants passed out next to her.

"Woah! This Pirate's trying to hit on 20 girls at the same time!" Sanji was very much enjoying himself while surrounded by a large group of girls.

"We don't stand a chance with these Pirates!"

"Hahahaha!" Igarappoi chuckled. "This is truly a fun—" He cleared his throat. "Ma~! Ma~! Ma~! A fun-filled night! It pleases that all are enjoying the celebration with such vigor! Hahahaha!" The mayor's smile fell into a malicious grin. "Oh yes, indeed. I'm quite pleased."

The drinking contest was still ongoing as time went on. More people were unconscious on the floor until they could no longer take part in all the carousing.

"All right, that's enough…" The Man-Demon said drowsily. "I'm out. I need to lay down—" Gin finally joined the other contest entries, his head planting against the table with a thud.

"Ah, c'mon!" Nami called a red tinge on her face due to drunkenness. "You quittin' already, Gin?! You wuss!" A reasonably large woman dressed in a nun outfit sat across from Nami.

"My child…" The nun spoke. "Forfeit for your own sake. There's no disgrace."

"Hah!" Nami laughed. "Well, I appreciate the concern, sister! But you're not getting me to quite that easy! Hahahaha!"

Nami was victorious in outdrinking the nun.

"Whiskey Peak..." Usopp said happily. "What a marvelous town!"

"We've stumbled upon pure paradise!" Sanji agreed, his head resting in a girl's lap.

The drinking contest was still ongoing; the townspeople watched with anticipation to see who would fall first. They continued to holler at them as the two kept up the drinking, mug for mug.

Soon enough, Nami was victorious in outdrinking the nun. As she did, Nami gulped the rest of her own mug, raised it in the air, and met with acclaiming praise from the townspeople.

"I won!" Nami cheered with a victorious laugh and fell onto her back. "The prize money is mine…" She murmured, letting sleep finally take her.

Later that night, the young Pirates were in slumber. Zoro snoozed with his head on the table, Usopp was passed out on the couch, Nami slept peacefully curled up on the floor, Gin laid flat on his back with his eyes while he dozed, Silk rested softly with her back against the wall, and Sanji had a blush on his face while he slept.

"They've worn themselves out partying…" Igarappoi grinned at the snoring Pirates. "And are fast asleep. Sweet dreams, brave adventurers."

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While everyone else slept, Igarappoi went outside and looked out at the giant cactuses in the distance. "My, how the cactus rocks gleam under the pale moon, beautiful as ever."

"If I may say, your poetic skills are beyond compare, Igarappoi." Mr. 9 complimented him as he and Miss Wednesday sat on the roof. "I mean, Mr. 8."

"Oh, it's you." The newly revealed Mr. 8 addressed them without turning around as they hopped down to the ground.

"So where are they?" Miss Wednesday asked.

"They're falling…" Mr. 8 paused before turning around to face them with a dark look. "Straight to hell."

Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday were soon also joined by the nun Nami was drinking with.

"Damn, my head is killing me." The nun complained. "Our guest didn't have the taste to pass out gracefully, so I doctored their drinks a little. So, tell me. Was it really necessary to put on an elaborate show for those idiots?" She quickly threw off her nun garb, leaving her in a polka-dot dress that showed off her muscled physique. "I get that nobody wants to hear me whine, but it's my duty to point out the amount of food we wasted when we could've just ambushed them at the harbor. We're already short on supplies. It's not like anyone had high hopes for that whale meat or anything."

"Well, you go try and kill that damn whale!" Mr. 9 argued. "We tried our best, you know."

"Both of you calm yourselves!" Mr. 8 interjected. "Before you question the validity of my plan, you should see this." He held a pair of tan sheets of paper, which happened to be wanted posters of Light and Gin.

[50 million and 19 million!] The trio, talking to Mr. 8, exclaimed in disbelief at the amounts placed on Light and Gin.

"For those morons?!" Mr. 9 shouted.

"Don't be foolish." Mr. 8 told them. "Appearances can be deceiving. That goes for… Ahem! Ma~! Ma~! Ma~! That goes for all of you."

"I'm sorry." Miss Monday declared bashfully.

"It's no matter." Mr. 8 stated. "Our prey has been trapped. And that's news the boss will enjoy. For now, confiscate everything of value from their ship and apprehend the Captain; he should still be onboard."

"So, what do we do with them now?" Miss Monday asked.

"Kill them…?" Mr. 9 wondered.

"If they die, the bounty drops 30%." Mr. 8 explained. "The government prefers to hold public executions. I want them alive."

"Hey!" A voice alerted them. "Sorry to interrupt. Do you mind letting my friends sleep? They've had a long day, and the journey was exhausting, so I've been told."

"And I'd think twice about heading for the ship." Another voice spoke out. "Disturbing the Captain while he's asleep can really piss him off."

"If you make him angry, it'll be your nightmare." A third voice warned them.

They turned and looked up to see the sources of the voices. Sitting on top of the building behind them was Zoro with one of his Swords unsheathed, the full moon gleaming behind him. Standing at his left side was Silk with her arms crossed, and on his right side was Gin with one of his tonfas over his shoulder.

"Hey, Mr. 8, Miss Monday!" Some of the islanders came out of the door in a panic. "Some of them escaped from the room when we weren't looking!"

Miss Wednesday let out an annoyed sigh. "They're right over there."

"Sneaky wretches." Mr. 8 cursed at them. "You should have stayed asleep with your friends."

"A good swordsman never makes the mistake of letting his guard down." Zoro proclaimed proudly before following up. "Plus, I took a nap earlier.

"Judging by the scales and the idiotic disguises, I'd guess you're all Bounty hunters." Gin stared at them. "You use a honey trap in the form of finding Pirates who fall for your hospitality and getting them so drunk that you rob them blind before collecting their bounties." He summarized. "Unfortunately for you, no one in our crew is naive enough to fall for that scam, except for Sanji and Usopp, apparently."

"By my count, there are about 100 of you." Silk noted before she smirked. "In that case, we'll be your opponents for tonight—Baroque Works."

Every one of them immediately became shocked and horrified by that last word as Mr. 8 spoke for all of them. "How do you know our name?!"

"It wasn't that long ago that your organization approached us, back when it was just the Captain and I." Silk confessed. "Two of your agents tried to recruit us into your ranks, but the Captain made it clear that he had no interest in serving under someone else." She explained before focusing on Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. "And the moment he heard your names, he knew we were facing Baroque Works again, not to mention the fact that you were leading us to a trap when you were so insistent on being taken to this island."

"It's a small world after all. I was in a similar line of work once upon a time, and like Silk and the Captain, your company tried to entice me with a job offer as well. Naturally, I also said no." Zoro admitted with a bit of amusement. "I thought your names sounded familiar back on the ship, and when we got here, I figured out why. I was surprised, though, while everyone else was partying, Silk passed on the message that she and the Captain also figured it out." Zoro reached into his pocket and took out the piece of paper from before, revealing it had the name Baroque Works written on it.

"I'm starting to feel left out, considering I've never heard of Baroque Works." Gin joined in jokingly. "I'm just not the kind of guy who trusts a bunch of strangers who shower you with kindness for no apparent reason, and when I saw the looks of my crewmates while you were welcoming us, I knew I wasn't the only one who thought you were full of it and that something was up."

"So tell me, do the same rules still apply? Employee identities are kept secret? Cheesy code names? The boss' identity and whereabouts are also a mystery—Baroque Works, the criminal group that faithfully carries out their orders like herded sheep." Zoro continuously mocked them. "That's some secret."

Mr. 8 looked down as his eyes were overshadowed before he spoke with an ominous tone. "This is a surprise. If you know all of our secrets, then we are left with no other choice but to kill you, and some more gravestones shall be added to the cactus rocks tonight."

His words made sense to anyone who lived here. From a distance, they couldn't be seen, but when you take a closer look, you can see that the giant cactus rocks in the distance weren't ordinary cactuses. The cactus rocks were massive graveyards, and every open spot on those rocks was covered in gravestones. There must have been thousands of gravestones, if not more, and when you look at all those graves, you can only imagine how many people Baroque Works has killed on this island alone.

"Listen, both of you." Zoro addressed them without looking at them. "If you don't mind, let me handle this alone."

"And what? You want us to just sit here and do nothing?" Gin objected to that request.

Silk seemed to feel differently. "Gin, remember what the Captain said this morning?"

(Light leaned in and told him. "The next time that there's trouble, you'll have to use those Swords to handle things on you're own.")

"Zoro has to make up for not helping for the storm." Silk continued. "This is how he'll do that, by handling these guys on his own."

"Those were the Captain's orders." Zoro added, having no issues with them.

Gin set out a sigh and stepped back. "Fine, they're all yours."

Now determined to finish the job, Mr. 8 looked up at the Pirates above him and gave the order.

"KILL THEM!" Mr. 8 roared.

The Bounty hunters pointed rifles at the trio. The men aiming their rifles only found Silk and Gin on the roof, with Zoro nowhere to be found.

"He… Disappeared?" Miss Wednesday gasped in disbelief.

"What!?" Mr. 8 said. "But how the hell could he just disappear!?"

Some of the Bounty hunters gulped in nervousness. The Bounty hunters kept looking around until they caught Zoro in the middle of them all, just standing. Everyone looked at him as he had his hand over his eyes like he was looking for someone himself. He looked at everyone and grinned at them.

The Bounty hunters readied weapons and aimed guns at Zoro.

"Who do you think you are!?" A hunter yelled.

"FIRE!" Another ordered. They started firing upon Zoro, but what happened was that everyone just ended up shooting each other. They all fell to the ground. They never hit Zoro since he disappeared once again.

"Incompetent morons!" Mr. 8 yelled. "They just shot each other!"

"Yeah!" Mr. 9. "And the Pirate got away!"

"Just kill him!" Mr. 8 shouted. "He's only one man!" A blade appeared at the side of Mr 8's head. Courtesy of Zoro as he was back-to-back with Mr. 8. The Swordsman had a smile on his face. Mr. 8 had a scared look on his face.

"He's having too much fun with this." Gin noted.

"If he can afford to have fun, we have nothing to worry about." Silk pointed out.

"So tell me…" Zoro said brazenly as he grinned at Mr. 8. "Who were those gravestones for again?"

"There he is!" A bounty hunter shouted. "Now!"

"Wait! Don't shoot!" Mr. 8 pleaded while his face turned pale. "You're going to shoot me! Stop!"

"Igarappa!"

He leaned his head back, blew into his saxophone, and fired bullets from it, shooting the bounty hunters that were aiming at him and Zoro.

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

With Silk, Gin, and Zoro outside fighting in the town. It left the rest of the crew sleeping in the party room. Usopp and Sanji were still out of it from all the partying. But the only one who happened to be awake was a particular orange-headed navigator.

"So, Whiskey Peak is really home to a whole nest of Bounty Hunters?" Nami smirked. "You know, I had a feeling that just might be the case." With the town distracted, for Nami, this was the perfect opportunity. To search for treasure.

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

Meanwhile, on Zoro's side of things. Zoro hid behind a building as the Bounty Hunters searched for him. Zoro grabbed one of his Swords.

"Ah yes…" Zoro whispered. "My new recruits from Loguetown. Yubashiri and Kitetsu III. Now's as good a time as any to see what you two are made of. And with these thugs, we don't need to hold back." From up above, Zoro was one of the bounty hunters aiming a gun down at him.

"Haha! Got you now!" The hunter shouted. Zoro looked up and noticed him. "DIE!" The guy shouted. Zoro thought quickly and dove backward through a door into the building.

Zoro rolled to his feet, but behind him, outside the building, were more bounty hunters aiming guns at him. Zoro thought quickly and then jumped over a table, kicked it, and used it as cover from all the gunfire.

"Up first…" Zoro said, smiling. "Yubashiri." He began to take the blade out of its sheath. He sliced the table in half and ran at the bounty hunters. He sped right past them all. "Light. And well balanced." He said, impressed with his blade, and then ran off. The bounty hunters then fell from their wounds. Zoro ran as more bounty hunters chased after him.

"There's the sneaky rat!" One shouted as others followed him. "This way, guys! Hold it!"

"Well, I guess they found me!" Zoro said.

"He's coming your way!" A guy warned. Zoro began climbing up a ladder, and up top were four more guys, with one holding a bazooka.

"He's mine!" The guy shouted as he fired the bazooka. Zoro, just in time, leaned back on the ladder and dodged the incoming blast before it hit him. He looked at the four guys on the roof.

"Heh, heh…" One laughed. "Time to die."

"RRRAAAAGH!" A shout was heard behind Zoro. It was Miss Monday throwing a barrel straight at him. Zoro slashed the barrel into four pieces with them, knocking the four out together.

"Aww…" Zoro whined sarcastically. "And that wine must've cost a fortune. What a waste, huh?" The muscled woman only grits her teeth at him in anger. From behind Zoro was a bounty hunter wielding a giant hammer who went for a sneak attack. Zoro quickly turned and used Kitetsu III, sliced the hammer in half, and slashed down the bounty hunter with a second slash of his second Sword. When he used the Kitetsu III, it felt like it was trying to fight against him and not obey him.

"What the hell is it doing?" Zoro said as he looked at the blade. "Look, Kitetsu III, you're quite sharp, but you're also a bit of a troublemaker, aren't you? A good Sword only cuts when its master directs it to. Cursed or not, you're going to listen to me now."

"DIE!" A young boy ran at Zoro with a small knife. Zoro turned slowly, and as he turned, he knocked the kid's knife out of his hand. The boy fell to the ground.

"No!" A nun came running to the kid and hugged him. "Please have mercy on the little boy! I beg you!" Zoro only stared down at her. "Please, kind sir, have mercy on us!" The nun and kid smiled wickedly as she pulled out a cross-shot of some kind of powder at him. "Or try some blinding powder!"

"You'd be better off trying that cheap trick on someone who's likely to fall for it." Zoro said as he was now behind them as they fell over. "The flat of the blade is mercy."

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

Shortly after Nami got up and left the others, she ended up in one of the many buildings to search for where they had the treasure hidden. She went about sneaking inside different buildings to find treasure by opening safes whenever one was found. Being a skilled thief, she came in handy, so unlocking safes was easy.

Unfortunately, Nami wasn't having any luck finding treasure here. Every single building she found was filled with nothing but useless junk and little to no treasure, which caused Nami to groan in frustration.

"Oh, seriously…!" Nami sighed. "This is all the treasure they have?! This is a pathetic excuse for a bounty hunter's nest!" she put her hands on her hips. "Whiskey Peak is a thoroughly useless town!"

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

Back with Zoro, he had a lot more bounty hunters coming after him.

"Hahaha!" One laughed. "There's nowhere to run now!" The bounty hunters began running to where Zoro climbed up. The bounty hunter climbed up the ladder but was met with Zoro staring down at him with a smile and holding the ladder. The guy had this look of fear as Zoro teased him as he moved the ladder back and forth.

"Well, that was fun." Zoro said, still smiling. "See ya!" He pushed the ladder finally, with the guy and all the others climbing up on it falling off, too. Zoro, with two Swords in hand, jumped on the falling ladder and then jumped off it.

"Oh no!" A bounty hunter shouted. "He's coming right for us!" Zoro was falling down toward all of them.

"Shoot him!" One shouted as the rest fired their guns. Zoro only grinned.

Zoro began as he landed in front of the Bounty Hunters.

"Two-Sword Style: Hawk Wave!"

He spun himself and then slashed the air and slashed the ground, sending a blast at the bounty hunters, knocking them over.

Five more bounty hunters jumped from a higher building. Zoro began cutting a circle in the roof as he walked off, and the bounty hunters landed on the spot perfectly.

"I wouldn't be standing there if I were you." Zoro said, smirking proudly. As if on cue, that part of the roof gave out as the bounty hunters fell through it. Zoro stood for a second as he saw a shadow behind holding a ladder. He quickly ducked to the ground as the one who attacked him, Miss Monday, smashed the ladder against the wall.

"Alright, that was too close…" Zoro said. Miss Monday threw what was left of the ladder to the ground and put on a brace knuckle on one of her hands.

"It was a good effort…" Miss Monday growled. "But there is no man who can best my strength." She picked up Zoro by his throat with her giant, muscular hand. "Now you die, Swordsman." She held him up higher and then slammed him to the ground. "Taste my Superhuman Brass Knuckle!" She brought her fist to Zoro and punched him right in the face, with the entire roof cracking the top of the building.

From far off was Mr. 8 with his arms folded with Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday standing behind him.

"Well, we've wasted…" He cleared his throat. "MA~! Well, we've wasted a lot of time. But at least we finally put an end to him. Now, all we need to do is finish the other two Pirates, and then we can go."

"You hear that?" Mr. 9 grinned at Silk and Gin. "Now that we've taken out your friend, the two of you are next. Prepare yourselves."

Neither of them looked worried as Silk merely pointed in the direction of their colleague. "You might want to look again."

Before they could ask what she meant, a shrill scream was heard from where Miss Monday and Zoro were. Mr. 8 turned as he heard the scream.

"Miss Monday!" Mr. 9 shouted.

Zoro was standing straight up as he held Miss Monday by her face as she was on one knee. She continued screaming as Zoro kept his hold on her face.

"What's the matter, Muscle Woman…?" Zoro asked with a cold disposition. "Didn't you wanna pit your strength against mine? Well, I guess you lost." Zoro squeezed her face as he let go of her, and she fell defeated flat on her back. Zoro smiled as he had blood dripping down his face. "Is that all you can offer, Baroque Works?" He licked the blood that poured past his lips. "Cause you're gonna need to do a lot better than that."

"It can't be…!?" A guy shouted. "He really beat Miss Monday!?"

"No!" Another shouted. "It's just not possible!?"

"Are you fully starting to understand what you're up against?" Gin asked them from above with a scowl. "We're the crew that stood at the top of the East Blue, and you're fighting against our First Mate. Did you honestly think a band of second-rate Bounty hunters were a threat to us?"

"And since you've never been to the East Blue, you weren't aware that Zoro's name is known and feared by everyone in that corner of the world." Silk added, informing them. "He's known for his brutality and can tear apart his victims like a beast in the wild."

"You're exaggerating. I'm not the one they should be afraid of." Zoro called out, smirking at Baroque Works. "There's a genuine beast on our crew, and it's not me. If you had tried picking a fight with our Captain instead, this would already be over, and you'd all be dead by now."

Mr. 8 gritted his teeth after hearing their words while Mr. 9 stepped back in dismay. "This is crazy. I can finally understand how their Captain could have a 50,000,000 beri bounty on his head! If someone like him is just a subordinate, the Captain must be a monster!"

"Yeah, you're right about that." Miss Wednesday said with unease. "I can't imagine the kind of person who could have someone this strong enough to serve under you."

"Even so, this is disgraceful," Mr. 8 groaned in frustration. "The boss put us in charge of this town, and he's not going to be pleased if we lose to a few measly Pirates."

"Well, then…" Miss Wednesday spoke. "Looks like we finally get to fight."

"Something you may not know…?" Mr. 9 mentioned. "In Baroque Works, the smaller an agent's number is, the greater their power, as well as their rank in the company. Take the two of us, Mr. 9 and Mr. 8; we're single-digit agents and don't forget Miss Wednesday. Our abilities are much greater than the riffraff you two have been fighting against so far tonight."

"I find that fancy titles mean nothing when it comes to fighting." Zoro remarked with a smirk. "The strongest wins, and that's it." Everyone stayed still in the exact same spot they were in while a calm wind drifted through the night air.

"Igarappa!"

Mr. 8 blew into his saxophone. Zoro leaped away to avoid bullets that sprayed from it.

"Let's go, Miss Wednesday!" Mr. 9 announced, running toward the pirates.

"Of course, Mr. 9." His partner replied. "Come here, Carue!" She whistled, and from her call came a duck adorned with a hat and goggles on its head and let out a quack in response. It had a blank expression while it pointed a single wing to the right.

"No! Come here!" Miss Wednesday yelled with shark teeth. She mounted on the duck's saddle on its back. "Now c'mon, Carue! Show them how fast you are! Leave them in the dust!" Carue quacked, and instead of running, he sat down. "I didn't tell you to sit now, did I?!" Miss Wednesday became so agitated with her duck not meeting her demands and punched him over the head.

"A duck?" Gin blinked.

"And not a smart one, apparently?" Silk commented.

"These guys just keep getting weirder by the second." Zoro stated.

"Hahahaha!" Mr. 9 laughed from behind Zoro as he stood on a bell tower. "You get distracted so easily! How can you hope to follow my acrobatics!" He began back-flipping down the bell tower. "You better prepare for…" He pulled two metal bats. "My Bloody Bats!" Mr. 9 swung his bats at Zoro, who blocked it with one of his Swords.

"Hahaha!" Mr. 9 laughed as he jumped away from Zoro. "You better be careful not to chip your precious blades." Zoro just stood holding up his Swords. "Hmm? What's the matter? Are you too afraid to fight me?" Zoro turned around and pointed his blade at Mr. 9.

Zoro closed in and began slashing at Mr. 9, with the crown-wearing man blocking each slash with his bats. Zoro slashed with a significant amount of speed and kept raining down strikes in a way where Mr. 9 struggled to keep up and was giving it his all to block Zoro's blade while continuously stepping back as Zoro advanced.

"What happened to your fancy acrobatics, huh?" Zoro said, smiling.

"Watch really carefully now!" Mr. 9 shouted, smiling back. He back-flipped but then jumped off the side of the building, screaming and then falling to the ground with a crash.

"Did he just jump off a building?" Silk asked, not believing the man's carelessness.

"Can someone really be that stupid?" Gin asked, just as thrown off.

"Huh?" Zoro was surprised as well. "Is this really the best they can do?"

"There's better, I'm still here."

Zoro turned around and saw Miss Wednesday standing on top of Carue's back.

"Are you ready, Mr Bushido?" She addressed him with an alias she came up with for him. "Take a look at this?" Miss Wednesday said, smiling and putting her arms over her head, doing a pose. "What do you think, bad boy?"

Miss Wednesday smiled once again as she opened her hands, revealing perfume bottles.

"Perfume?" Zoro wondered.

"Now, enjoy my 'Perfume Dance'." Miss Wednesday declared.

She swayed her body with slow, deliberate movements, her hips shaking tantalizingly. Zoro didn't know what was coming over him. It wasn't just the dance. It was the purple mist that started to swarm around him, which found its way to Zoro's nose. The perfume smelled good, but that was bad. It overloaded his senses, and it started to become too strong for him. He shook his head to focus himself and covered his nose. But it was no use as Zoro let go of his Sword and dropped to his knees.

"Hmm… Good boy." Miss Wednesday giggled. "And now…" she held a little hoop around her pinky, which seemed to be attached to a thin string, and at its end was what resembled a colorful feather. "Peacock Slasher! Go Carue!"

Miss Wednesday rode on her duck's back, charging toward Zoro. They were quickly approaching. Thankfully, and surprisingly, Zoro wasn't in any real danger as just as he was about to be hit by Miss Wednesday's weapon, her duck missed him entirely, as they were off course, and ran past him in the midst of their attack.

"You ran right past him!" Miss Wednesday shouted at Carue. She gave a surprised squeak as Carue continued running across the building, eventually stepping off its edge. The duck seemed to realize it was suspended in the air, even attempting to run, but its effort was futile when the duck found itself falling. Carue gave out a startled cry in the form of a quack and dropped to the ground below.

"You gotta be kidding me?" Gin couldn't believe he had just witnessed a second idiot result on their part.

Silk facepalmed. "There is something wrong with these people."

Zoro agreed with that statement as he scowled. "Man, these guys are so pathetic. Fighting them is starting to get embarrassing."

Before he could lower his guard, Mr. 8 appeared on the roof as well and blew his saxophone, unleashing another round of bullets at Zoro. Zoro moved fast and jumped down the hole in the roof he had made earlier to escape.

"He slipped down through the hole." Mr. 8 noticed as he looked down through it. "That won't keep him safe." He then called out. "Come back here, Swordsman! And get a taste of just how dangerous I am!"

Zoro ran out of the building through the front door and hid behind the back wall of the house to avoid being seen.

"That horn of his complicates things." Zoro said to himself while hiding. "How do I get close enough to fight?"

Just then, Mr. 9 burst out of a pile of broken wood that was created when he landed after jumping off the roof and screamed as he approached the space Zoro was hiding in. "You may have one the first fight, but you won't get away with it! No tricks from you this time!"

"I didn't trick you. You jumped off a building!" Zoro clarified.

Mr. 9 ignored him and prepared to attack. "Now for my Homerun Sneaky Bat!"

He pointed one of his bats as Zoro, and the tip shot out while connected to a chain. The chain-linked tip of the bat wrapped around Zoro's forearm and held it in a tight grip.

"Haha! Whatcha gonna do now, tough guy?!" Mr. 9 laughed.

"Kick your ass." Zoro answered, unconcerned.

Mr. 8 walked up to the edge of the roof and smiled when he saw Zoro was caught. "Excellent work."

"Come on, do it, Mr. 8! Kill him, now!" Mr. 9 laughed manically. "You won't get away!"

"That's right!" Wednesday appeared as well and was behind Mr. 9 with her weapons out and her duck beside her. "It's over now, Mr Bushido. This time, you'll face an assault of the three of us at the same time."

"Yes, that's right, Miss Wednesday; it seems there'll be no escape for the Swordsman now!" Mr. 9 cheered with a violent disposition.

"Preparing to fire!" Mr. 8 pulled on the threads of his bowtie, and from each of the tubes of his hair appeared the barrel of a gun. "Firing squad, ready!"

"What?" Zoro was surprised to see all those additional firearms aimed at him.

"Igarappapa!"

Mr. 8 pulled the strings and fired all his guns as a wave of ammunition descended toward Zoro. "Ah, great, more guns."

Zoro grabbed onto the chain and pulled back his arm along with his whole body in order to pull Mr. 9, who hadn't let go of the bat, toward him before swinging him up into the air. Zoro launched Mr. 9 above him and in the direction of the incoming ammunition before it hit. With that, he used the agent as a human shield, and all the projectiles hit him with an explosion.

Zoro wasn't down as he pulled back on the chain that still connected him with Mr. 9 and hurled his lifeless body downward toward Miss Wednesday and her duck. Taken off guard, Miss Wednesday screamed as her partner collided with her and Carue as the three of them were launched away and crashed into the wall of a nearby building.

"Igarappapa!"

Now, the only one left standing, Mr. 8, attempted to fire his guns at Zoro again. But Zoro was faster and dodged the ammunition and ran forward before leaping up the different sections of the building until he reached the roof; on his way up, he slashed Mr. 8 across the chest before landing on the roof behind him.

With his work done, Zoro shifted his weapons, and Mr. 8 fell in defeat.

"All right, done." Zoro proclaimed before walking away and taking a seat on the other side of the roof. "Now, maybe I can get some peace and quiet.

"Well, you really pulled it off." Silk noted as she and Gin appeared nearby and approached him. "You took out all 100 of them in no time at all."

"It would have been more impressive if they weren't so weak, but still, congrats." Gin praised his work.

"Well, all in all, it was good practice." Zoro responded casually. "Now I know what my new Swords can do in a fight."

They talked amongst themselves and looked out at the town. It seemed like the night was finally quiet, with the bounty hunters finally taken care of.

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

Meanwhile, near the shoreline of the island, three remaining members of Baroque Works who had stayed out of the fighting were now running away after witnessing their superiors be defeated by Zoro.

"Three single-digit agents lost to one man! I never thought I'd live to see the day that would happen!" One of them cried out as they ran.

"We've got to escape from here, but where do we go?" Another questioned as they ran.

"We're just gonna have to find someplace to hide until this all blows over!" The third one decided as they neared the edge of town.

They then stopped and looked in front of them as they saw a strange sight… There was an otter in a white one-piece cloth with purple polka dots and a vulture with a floral swim cap—both with thick sunglasses. The sight of these two animals that appeared to possess human intelligence horrified the three of them.

[The Unluckies are here! Noooo!] They cried out in terror and panic.

"Now, hold on a second! I know it looks like we're running away, but we're not, I promise!" One of them desperately made excuses.

"Please, spare us! Please don't report us to the boss, Okay!" Another pitifully begged them.

A glint appeared in both of their eyes as the Unluckies ignored their pleas and moved forth to put an end to the three of them. They shrieked in terror as they closed in, but before they could reach them, a voice called out.

"Hold it!"

That command stopped the Unluckies in their tracks as two new individuals appeared at the scene. One was a woman, and the other a man.

"There's a lot of action tonight for such a sleepy town. Shouldn't everyone be in bed?" The one asked as she stepped forward.

"Ha! The boss sends us all the way out to the front lines, and this is what we find: what a pathetic little group." The man stood beside her and scoffed at them.

BOOOOOOOOM!

With those words, the two of them took care of the three fleeing agents in place of the Unluckies. It was over in an instant as a large explosion detonated and consumed all three of them. The sound of the blast, as well as their screams, echoed across the town.

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

Back in the middle of the town, Mr. 8, Mr. 9, and Miss Wednesday were all together and still conscious despite their injuries. All three agents were on the ground, previously beaten by Zoro. Mr. 8 was in the worst shape as he was bleeding from his head and chest and crawling on the ground, struggling to get up.

"I can't die here… I have an important mission to complete…" Mr. 8 groaned weakly. "I must keep going."

The 3 of you lost against a single Pirate?" A voice ridiculed. "Now that's just sad."

The agents looked and saw two others before them. One of them is a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair in short spiky dreadlocks. He wears a brown trench coat with a pink cravat and a pair of sunglasses, regardless of the time of day. His number is shown on his clothing. He has a "5" on his coat. Next to him was a tall young woman with short blond hair and bright green eyes. She wears a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes. She is seen carrying a bright green parasol with blue stripes..

"Mr. 5…?!" Mr. 8 exclaimed. "Miss Valentine…?!"

"Really, can't do your job?" Mr. 5 looked at them dismissively.

"Hahaha!" Miss Valentine cackled. "Well, that's clearly the difference between our rank and yours."

"You came here just to laugh at us?!" Mr. 8 growled.

"Nah, that's a bonus." Mr. 5 stated sarcastically.

"Hahaha!" Miss Valentine chortled. "We're here under the boss's orders."

"Haha…" Mr. 9 gave a weak laugh. "With you guys here to fight, we can finally defeat them. They don't stand a chance against you."

"That's right!" Miss Wednesday agreed. "Let's track them down and show them what Baroque Works can really do!"

"Heh…" Mr. 5 chuckled. "Seriously, Miss Wednesday, you can stop with the jokes. We didn't come here to clean up your mess."

"You really think that we'd come all the way to the end of the Grand Line to hold your hands?" Miss Valentine remarked. "You're even more pitiful than you look."

"B-But then what mission are you here for?!" Mr. 9 questioned.

"You mean you haven't figured it out?" Mr. 5 said. "There are people here whose crimes against the company are grave enough that the boss has sent us to deal with them. He said someone had learned their secrets. I don't know what secrets exactly, and I don't wanna know, but obviously, someone else did, and knowing them is against company rules. Our motto is mystery. Everybody's identity is to be kept strictly secret no matter who they are and if someone is dumb enough to nose around the boss' business. Well, then... that's a crime punishable by death."

"So, while we were conducting our investigation to find out who had uncovered the boss' secrets, we learned something…" Miss Valentine said, going into a fit of laughter. "It turns out…" Hidden and unseen by the strange group was Nami, the navigator listening to the whole conversation behind a building. "A rather high-ranking individual from a certain kingdom has somehow managed to infiltrate Baroque Works." Miss Valentine mentioned.

"A kingdom…?!" Mr. 9 repeated. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Hold on a second!" He shot up from the ground. "I may be wearing a crown, but I'm not a king or anything like that, I swear! It's just an innocent little hobby!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Miss Valentine yelled.

"You still don't get it? We need the people from Alabasta. They're the ones who angered the boss." Mr. 5 informed them.

"They know…?" Mr. 8 thought worriedly. "It's all over now!" Mr. 8 got to his feet and pulled his tie, firing a pair of shots at Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. "Die!"

"Igarappa!"

Mr. 8 shouted violently at them. "You will not lay a hand upon our Princess! Not while the Captain of Alabasta Security still stands!"

"Igaram!" Miss Wednesday called. The shots released never affected Mr. 5 or Miss Valentine, as they were both left unfazed by the attack from Igaram.

"Igaram, Captain of Alabasta Security." Mr. 5 stated. "And Princess Vivi Nefertari of Alabasta Kingdom." He held up a photo of Vivi. "We have come here in the name of the boss of Baroque Works to see if you're both eliminated!" Vivi had a look of terror on her face as Igaram stood in front of her and fired at the two agents again, blasting multiple blasts at them in an attempt to protect the princess.

"Go on!" Igaram shouted over the gunfire. "Princess Vivi! You have to escape!"

"Igaram!" Vivi exclaimed.

Smoke from Igaram's attack shrouded Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. Something seemed to be sent out from the smoke and hit Igaram. Whatever it was exploded on impact, creating a billowed cloud of smoke around him as it cleared away once Igaram fell to the ground on his face.

"Igaram!" Vivi called worriedly.

"Don't bother!" Miss Valentine shouted as she was floating in the air. She started to drop down to Vivi, attempting to kick her, but the girl avoided it by ducking her head. The band that kept her ponytail in place came apart, causing her long, light-blue hair to flow out. Vivi pulled out her Peacock Slasher, trying to slash Miss Valentine, but the woman dodged it by leaping into the air and gently landing beside her partner, Mr. 5.

"You mean you're really a princess, Miss Wednesday?!" Mr. 9 questioned in surprise. "Oh wow!"

"A very busy princess right now, Mr. 9!" Vivi shouted with shark teeth.

"Princess Vivi…" Igaram groaned from the ground.

"Oh, Igaram..." Vivi gasped in worry. "You're hurt."

"Vivi… Please…" Igaram breathed out. "Forget about me! You must get away from here! For our homeland… If you're to be harmed, Alabasta Kingdom would suffer. Please, Princess, you must hurry!"

"If you think you can escape from us…?" Mr. 5 wondered. "You're mistaken." He commented while digging in his nose.

"Let's see if you can take me!" Vivi claimed whilst spinning her Peacock Slashers, getting ready to fight. She didn't have to as Mr. 9 got in between Vivi and the two enemy agents, holding his bats. The sudden act surprised Vivi that her partner would rush to her defense.

"This whole Princess thing is pretty confusing, but we've been fighting together for a long time, so get going!" Mr. 9 exclaimed. "I'm going to buy you some time for a head start!"

"Thank you, Mr. 9." Vivi said gratefully.

"Heh, pretty manly of me, don't ya think?" Mr. 9 grinned. "Bye-bye, baby!" Mr. 9 called as he cart-wheeled toward Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. "I hope you are prepared for this!"

"All that is asked of us agents is to do our jobs and do them well." Mr. 5 mentioned picking a booger from his nose. "Forming such pathetic friendships is for the weak. It's time that you learned that…!" He outstretched his hand, aiming it at Mr. 9.

"Bloody Bat!"

"My Nose Fancy Cannon!"

Mr. 5 released his booger with a flick, hitting Mr. 9 directly. The explosion sent Mr. 9 flying backward into the water with a huge splash.

"Oh no! Mr. 9!" Vivi shouted and knew she couldn't stay here and had to get away from the two agents after her, quickly mounting onto Carue. "Carue, run!" With that order, Carue started to race away with Vivi to escape the enemy duo.

"And off she goes!" Miss Valentine said

"She won't get far." Mr. 5 commented. "Let's go, Miss Valentine!"

"Right behind you, Mr. 5!" the woman followed her partner.

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Zoro, along with Silk and Gin, were watching the entire scene from behind a building. They didn't know what was happening, so they figured they should just stay hidden and let them deal with it. Miss Wednesday was apparently a princess.

"What was up with that weird guy…?" Gin wondered. "He's got exploding booger?"

"Yeah, but it's still gross." Silk remarked. "What the hell is going on around here?"

"Who cares." Zoro told them. "Let's just wake up the others and get outta here." There was a weak groan from the ground. Zoro looked down to find Mr. 8, or Igaram, which was what the princess called him, lying face down.

"He's still not dead…?" Zoro wondered. The three of them approached the injured man. The man quickly reached out with his hand, grabbing Zoro's ankle.

"He's not looking so good." Gin commented. Igaram lifted his head, his eyes pleading as he stared up at each of them.

"Listen to me!" Igaram shouted with blood pouring down his face. "I have the most unreasonable request, but I need people with strength, such as yourselves!

"Yeah, right! You gotta be kidding me?" Zoro dismissed his desperation. "Would you let go of me?!"

"Both of those villains possess Devil Fruit powers! And there's nothing I can do to stop them! That's why I'm begging each of you right now! Please, protect Princess Vivi of Alabasta in my place!"

They all looked down at the Igaram. Zoro didn't move an inch at all, even with how tight a grip the man had on his ankle. Igaram continued his begging, his eyes going from left to right at the pirate trio.

"Surely you will be rewarded!" Igaram pleaded. "If you can safely deliver the princess to our home of Alabasta Kingdom! I am just a humble servant, but I'm begging you to do this! Please protect the Princess! I beg you!"

"Forget it!" Zoro snapped at him. "I'm not helping you! Until a few minutes ago, you were trying to kill me!" He angrily reminded him. "You think I'm a fool!?"

"Hey, now hold on, Zoro…" A voice called from one of the rooftops. Everyone looked up and saw Nami seated on the edge of a roof, a playful cat-like smile on her face with a leg crossed over the other. "I say we hear him out…" she insisted with a chuckle. "After all, he did say we'll be rewarded."

"Nami? You're awake too?" Zoro was surprised to see her.

"I see; you also saw through their trick, like I thought." Silk deduced.

"Of course I did." Nami answered as she hopped down from the roof. "Give me some credit. Who would fall asleep in a town that welcomes Pirates like Whiskey Peak?" She reasoned as she approached. "Once I heard they were bounty hunters and went looking around to swipe their treasure."

"It always comes back to that with you, doesn't it?" Gin rolled his eyes at her predictable nature.

"Now then, about that reward…" Nami approached Igaram as she smiled and snapped her fingers at him. "I'll take it!"

[Eh?!] Zoro, Silk, Gin, and even Igaram were taken aback by her brazen and completely audacious statement, considering she had just shown up.

"Your conversation sounds interesting."

Once again, a called out, and they all looked to the side to see none other than Light approaching them, now wide awake.

"I hope you don't mind if I join in." Light requested as he stopped in front of them.

"It's you…?" Igaram certainly didn't expect Light to appear right now.

"Captain?" Zoro was surprised as well.

Light looked at the state Igaram was in and the fact that most of his crew was gathered around him and decided to ask. "So, why don't you explain what's been going on?"

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—…

And that's the chapter.

First of all, I wanted to cover the entire Whiskey Peak arc in this chapter, but it was taking too long, so I split it in two. I had planned this arc for a while, and while the thought of having the others join in the fight crossed my mind, having Zoro defeat all 100 enemies by himself is a feat that demonstrated his strength as the First Mate, so I kept it, besides, if the other two joined in it would have been overkill.

However, Gin and Silk will fight in the next chapter, not a long one, but what can you do? Speaking of Silk, I decided to add the exposition that she and Light were also recruited by Baroque Works in the past, just like Zoro, which will be further explained later on.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you like the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.